village pump...on sunday january 8th, when we will celebrate epiphany, we will have an afternoon...

Deadline for next edition: Friday 23rd December

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VILLAGE PUMP

December 2016 No.434

Dates

Dates

Friday 9th Dec

Quiz at the Sun

Saturday 16th Dec NEW DATE

Live at the Nelson: Esther

Swift supported by Robyn

Johnson. £8 adv / £10

Sunday 18th Dec

Community Festive sing-a-

long at the Nelson 4pm

Wednesday 21st Dec

Folk Jam at the Nelson

Boxing Day

Karaoke at the Sun

Friday 30th Dec

Quiz at the Sun

Bin Days

Blue bin / green bin:

Monday 19th December

Tuesday 3rd January

Grey bin:

Monday 12th December

Tuesday 27th December

Post Office

Opening TimesAt the

Nelson Arms.

Tel 01629 733520

07770 662364

Monday 2pm-5pm

Wednesday 2pm-5pm

Thursday 9am-12pm

Celebrate Christmas in Middleton

If you have time, please do come and join us for our Christmas Worship: Churches

Together in Middleton are holding an open air carol sing on the Millennium Garden

from 7pm on 15th t December, followed by hot drinks and mince pies in the

Congregational Chapel.

Our Carol Service is on Christmas Eve at 7.00pm. There is no service at Holy

Trinity on Christmas Day.

On Sunday January 8th, when we will celebrate Epiphany, we will have an

afternoon story-telling session aimed at younger children, when we'll follow the

shepherds and the wise men to visit the Christ child. Children and parents are

invited for 3.30 p.m. on the 8th Jan for 20 minutes story time and singing followed

by drinks and cookies in church

Middleton Village Newsletter

All Change at the National Stone Centre

The Discovery Centre with its café, shop and exhibition will be temporarily closing

from Saturday 24th December for significant refurbishments over the next two

months. These include enlarging and changing the location of the café to take

advantage of the views along the Ecclesbourne Valley and which will also overlook

the newly installed children’s play area. There will be a dedicated classroom for the

many educational visits from schools, colleges and interest groups and a new rock

shop and exhibition.

During the summer of 2017 there will also be the installation of the 2012 Tatton

Park ‘Best in Show’ garden. This will add a further interest and provide a peaceful

rest area for visitors. The National Stone Centre site will remain open to the public

for their enjoyment as usual during this period, although no facilities will be

available at the Discovery Centre. The Discovery Centre will re-open at the

beginning of March 2017 for the public to enjoy the new facilities.

The National Stone Centre is supported by a number of volunteers, who help look

after the forty acre site and work to maintain the SSSI status by looking after areas

of rare plants and fossil beds. They also create and maintain pathways for disabled

visitors, control the vegetation and fell the occasional tree. They also get involved

with educational activities for visiting schools.

For further information, or to find out how you can volunteer, contact Jerry

Climpson, Manager, National Stone Centre. Tel: 01629 824833 Email:

nsc@nationalstonecentre.org.uk.

Holy Trinity Church Middleton

The Christmas Present- a precious gift at no charge!

A few years ago a group of us clergy working around Derby City Centre

sat together wondering how we could come up with something original to

do together in the city as an act of witness at Christmas. One of the more

creative brethren came up with what turned out to be quite an innovative

idea. “Why not do a Christmas wrap.” Get a group of people together on

the late night openings in town before Christmas, and offer to wrap

people’s gifts for them free of charge.

Many people were delighted to accept the offer, especially the teenage lads who had just bought their mum’s

present and were a bit worried about the mess that they might make in wrapping it.

The Christmas warp evenings led to a lot of spontaneous conversations about what we as Christians thought

Christmas was about. The most fascinating thing was that people could not get over the fact that we were

doing it for nothing. Many expected it to be some sort of fund raising effort for the churches. All of them

were surprised that we were doing it for love. When we were asked why we were there, the reply was, “God

gave us the greatest gift of all at Christmas, and at no cost, so why shouldn’t we do something free for you?”

It was our way of reminding people about the true meaning of the celebrations.

With my best wishes for a joyful Christmas.

David Truby (Rector in the Wirksworth Team Ministry)

Memory Stars

Holy Trinity Church will be having Memory Stars in Church this Christmas. Write a

name and message on one side of our Bright Stars (or just a name) and they will be

hung on a branch in the Lady Chapel. The bucket of stars is on the back seat to help

yourself or ask a church member to bring you one to write on. You could also do one

at the carol service on Christmas Eve

Christine Kinder

Middleton Environment Group AGM

'We organise events and projects aimed at improving the environment of our village

and our appreciation of it'

Monday 16th January at 8pm in the Nelson Arms

Everyone is welcome to come along and find out about what we do, our plans for 2017 and share any ideas

for making our village an even better place to live. New members are always welcome.

For more details call 01629 2587471

October 2016 Dry and mild

Diff

from

or %

of

avera

ge

Date

Mean max temp 12.2 c +0.6 c

Mean min temp 6.9 c +0.6 c

Highest max 16.4 c 31st

Lowest min 4.7 c 10th

Total Rainfall 35.7

mm 32%

Wettest Day 9.5

mm 17th

Days with rain 15

Total Sunshine 63.2

hrs 87%

Sunniest Day 7.4 hrs 3rd

Days with no

sunshine

4

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust

The trust has been successful in applying for funds from the BIG Lottery Celebrate Fund to hold an event

called ‘Celebrate Middleton’ in 2017 on the weekend of the 15th and 16th of July.

The event will have four main themes: history, landscape, wildlife and people. We’d love everyone to be

involved and to come, as the village has given such a wonderful welcome to the Trust we would like to

celebrate with you.

In January we aim to hold a coffee morning to tell everyone about the funding and begin to gather ideas.

We will ask all the local groups to send a representative to get things started.

If you would like more information please feel free to call Jane Proctor at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust on

01773 881188.

2017 'Open Gardens and Quirky Corners' 10th and 11th June 2017

Everybody is very welcome to take part showing locals and visitors alike the delights of our 'hidden' gardens

and quirky corners. The Environment group will prepare a map (£3 for the two days) showing the gardens

and the profits from this will go to benefit the Village. Participants are of course welcome to

provide refreshments etc. for charities of their choice over the weekend.

If you wish to open for only one day then that is fine. If you have no garden but would just like to help out

then we are always looking for volunteers!

If you wish to take part please contact Rob or Ann on 01629 2587471 or email

robert.stamper@hotmail.co.uk - more details will follow in the spring.

Although it was a warmer than average October it

was still the coolest since 2012, an indication of how

warm recent Octobers have been. For most of the

month the temperature was consistently a bit higher

than average rather than having any notable warm

spells, although the 31st was very warm for the time

of year and it’s the first time on record that the

warmest day in October has occurred on the last day

of the month.

Rainfall was well below average. It was the driest

October since 2007, and the third driest in the last 40

years; the other drier one was in 1978. The rainfall

total for the first 10 months of the year is 893.2 mm

which is 105% of average.

It was the sunniest October since 2012 but was only

a fraction sunnier than last year.

Wind speeds were much lower than average and it

was the calmest October since 2007. The highest

gust recorded on the moor was 43 mph on the 27th,

the lowest on record in October.

Ellen Foster ATCL Music Teacher

Singing, Recorder, Cello, Bass Guitar, Piano.

Enhanced DBS. All ages welcome, beginners

or improvers.

Competitive rates and discounted bundles

available. Makes an ideal gift!

Tel:07855812753 or

email ellenfostermusic@gmail.com

ALTON MANOR TREE SERVICES

All types of tree work and hedge cutting

Fully NPTC qualified and insured

Free estimates and advice

Tel: Matt Jones

07871640735 or01629823723

Give Wirksworth Festival to a friend this Christmas

Wirksworth Festival – it’s a gift

There’s a new charity to support this Christmas

Wondering what to give your art loving friends this Christmas? Buy a gift membership of Wirksworth Arts

Festival and they’ll have a whole year of involvement with one of the UK’s most exciting rural arts festivals.

Membership costs £10 a year. Gift memberships come in a specially designed decorative envelope and benefits

include:

regular email updates

opportunities for priority booking

an invitation to the Festival launch party and social events through the year

curator’s talk

entry into a Members-only Prize Draw.

Members are also invited to have a say in how the Festival is run. The Festival will introduce an Annual General

Meeting, the first is in November 2017, where members will have an input into the direction of the Festival and

vote for members of the Board of Trustees.

Wirksworth Arts Festival has recently become a Registered Charity after operating for several years as a company,

‘Wirksworth Festival Ltd.’

“The Festival is delighted to be awarded charitable status,” said Carol Taylor, Chair of the Festival Board. “Being a

charity means the Festival will be able to engage more with local people and apply for a broader range of funding

which will help to ensure the future.”

Gift Memberships are on sale at Wirksworth Farmers’ Market, this Saturday 3rd December, or

email admin@wirksworthfestival.co.uk<mailto:admin@wirksworthfestival.co.uk>.

Your Village Hall Needs You......

On the 9th November , the small, but beautiful Middleton Village Hall Committee got together to work through the Agenda to ensure the smooth running of the Hall. We discussed the minutes of the last meeting, listened to the treasurer's report, considered the bookings officer's update, and mulled over the maintenance requirements and the day to day business of keeping the Hall open for the many community users. Before we knew it the meeting time was over and once again , we had run out of time to make plans for the future of the hall. It's not that we don't have ideas...it's just that there are so few of us that it is hard to move ideas into action especially as we all have full time work commitments. The Hall is well used by local groups during the week and is regularly hired out for weekend parties and events. However we are sure that there is room to expand on the opportunities that

the Hall can offer. For example, how good would it be to have a film club in Middleton? What about regular Antique Fayres? What if we could revive the yearly pantomime shows? All sound ideas but all needing volunteers with the time and energy to get the ideas off the drawing board. We also know that Middleton Village Hall has the potential to reach a wider audience than just the village but our website needs upgrading and maintaining. We also would love to have a leaflet produced detailing what the Hall can offer. Perhaps this is something you could help with. The existing committee are dedicated to keeping the Hall as an important community asset but there are currently only four of us. We would love to welcome more volunteers to our group.We meet every two months and hope that you will want to be part of the Hall's future. If you are able to support Middleton Village Hall in any small way please contact Jane on 01629-825154 or email at

janmon53@hotmail.co.uk . If you would like to come along to our next meeting, it will be at the Hall on the 11th January at 7.15p.m., we would love to see you there. Many thanks, Jane

Leisure centres to be

outsourced

Derbyshire Dales councillors have voted unanimously to start the process of outsourcing the running of the district’s four leisure centres as a package to a management operator. A special meeting of the District Council last Thursday (1 December) agreed a tendering exercise should start in May next year. The District Council, which will retain ownership of the buildings, will consult with key stakeholders in the coming months – and the results of the tendering exercise will be reported back to council no later than May 2018, when a final decision will be made.

Village Groups Contact List If you have a group that you’d like to include, please contact Lucy Peacock on 820831.

Millennium Garden Group

Secretary: Hilary Casey (820076)

Middleton Environment Group

Chair: Rob Stamper

Allotments Committee

Chair: Mike Knott (826075)

Middleton Ladies’ Fellowship

Olwyn Bailey (924868)

Steeple Grange Light Railway

Martin Smith: martinsmith187@tiscali.co.uk

John Cash: jtcpc@supanet.com

Middleton Book Group

Lucy Peacock (820831)

Middleton Toddler Group

Meets Wednesdays 1.30pm-3pm at the Village Hall

MMBG (Middleton Mountain Bike Group)

www.mmbg.co.uk

Middleton and Wirksworth Wrestling Club

Classes on Monday evenings in the village Hall

Contact Trevor Hoskins (07961 516722)

Salsa classes

Tuesday evenings in the village hall from 7.30

Contact Simon 07977 491272

Nelson Arms

Bar and accommodation. Alan and Jane (825154)

Rising Sun

Bar and food. Steve (823247)

Knit and Natter

In the Nelson on Mondays, 1-3pm, with Community

Luncheon on alternate Mondays. Brenda Hobson 824600

Green Deal approved

installers of

cavity wall

and loft insulation

01629 824595 07802 845223

www.dsinsulations.co.uk

MP for Derbyshire Dales

RT. HON. PATRICK McLOUGHLIN

Member of Parliament

You can write at any time to:

House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA

patrick.mcloughlin.mp@parliament.uk

Regular advice bureaux

Call for details 020 7219 3511

Working for Derbyshire Dales

Housecoal, Smokeless Fuel, Logs,

Kindling & Firelighters

Quality fuels at unbeatable value

Signal Fuels 01773 747027 07974 434447

07970 215726 Approved coal merchants Our reputation is glowing

PJB Projects

Groundwork and Construction

Minidigger & driver, drives, dropped kerbs, paths,

extensions, garages & conservatories,

landscaping, fencing & stonewalling

15 years experience.

Fully Qualified and Insured.

Call Phil for a free estimate at a realistic price

07977 240223

PARISH COUNCILLORS Tel

Cllr Sandy Clark 01629 822 372

Cllr Dawn Greatorex 01629 826 647

Cllr Rob Rawlinson 01629 824 655

Cllr John Sedgwick 01629 822 601

Cllr Debbie Skellern 07875 942 503

Cllr Peter Slack 01629 823 359

Cllr Dr Peter Stanley 01629 823 761

Parish Clerk: John Rowe 07717 137526

DISTRICT COUNCILLORS

Irene Ratcliffe, 47 Yokecliffe Cres, Wirksworth 823023

irene.ratcliffe@derbyshiredales.gov.uk

Mike Ratcliffe, 47 Yokecliffe Cres, Wirksworth 823023

mike.ratcliffe@derbyshiredales.gov.uk

Peter Slack, 31 Chapel Lane, Middleton 823359

Peter.slack@derbyshiredales.gov.uk

COUNTY COUNCILLOR

Irene Ratcliffe, 47 Yokecliffe Cres, Wirksworth 823023

Village Hall

For bookings contact Linda 822511

Village Hall Website www.middletonvh.org.uk

Post Office Opening Times

At the Nelson Arms. Tel 01629 733520 / 07770 662364

Monday 2pm-5pm

Wednesday 2pm-5pm

Thursday 9am-12pm

Parish Council Meetings

Ordinary meetings will be held at 6.30pm in the Committee Room of the Village Hall.

Members of the public are welcome to attend meetings and to raise concerns or make

representations to the Council during the Public Participation section of the meeting.

Police Contact your local team on 0345 123 33 33 or email directly to

PCSO 4413 Sue Lester suzanne.lester.4413@derbyshire.pnn.police.uk

Village Pump Editors

David Casey 820076

Lucy Peacock 820831

All views expressed are the contributor’s own and unless expressly stated are not necessarily

the view of the Village Pump. We reserve the right to edit or omit contributions.

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CAROL MOBILE

HAIRDRESSER

Free Range Eggs

Free range eggs £2.00 per

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Paws on Paths

Dog walking services

Middleton Enhanced CRB,

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Tel. Michael Kitching

07982806741

M J Petts

Plumbing & Heating

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07580 457426

mjpetts@hotmail.co.uk

Gas Safe Registered - 551336